Strange oil pressure behavior?
Strange oil pressure behavior? I just got back on the road after waiting 4 months for heads and other valvetrain parts. When I first fired it up my oil pressure was at 45psi, I thought "Good". After driving it to work I noticed my pressure drops to 20-25psi when my engine is nice and hot(195* w/ 180*thermo). From 1500RPM's to about 4000RPM's my oil pressure would go up to 40-45psi. At WOT or above 4500RPM's it goes to 50-60psi. Is this safe or normal? On cold start ups, the oil pressure goes as high as 55psi at idle. What can cause such drammatic changes in pressure? Thanks for any help.
TECH Regular
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 455
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From: Houston, TX USA
Originally Posted by silent1
I just got back on the road after waiting 4 months for heads and other valvetrain parts. When I first fired it up my oil pressure was at 45psi, I thought "Good". After driving it to work I noticed my pressure drops to 20-25psi when my engine is nice and hot(195* w/ 180*thermo). From 1500RPM's to about 4000RPM's my oil pressure would go up to 40-45psi. At WOT or above 4500RPM's it goes to 50-60psi. Is this safe or normal? On cold start ups, the oil pressure goes as high as 55psi at idle. What can cause such drammatic changes in pressure? Thanks for any help.
All in all, I would not worry too much about it. Oil pressure will definitly drop with temp and WOT oil pressure looks just fine...
Mine was doing the same thing a while back. According to the service manual, that is within spec, but for peace of mind, I replaced my oil pump and the o-ring on the pick up tube. I think it was more the o-ring than the pump, but that fixed it, regardless. Oil pressure is now around 60 on cold start, and never drops below 38, according to the wonderfully accurate oil pressure gauge.
</sarcasm>
-Mike
</sarcasm>
-Mike
